Maruti good conduct bond ‘unfair’: govt

The minister stated this in a written reply in Lok Sabha to a question by Gurudas Dasgupta of CPI and Gopinath Munde of Bharatiya Janata Party on whether there has been violation of labour laws by various multinationals,including Maruti by demanding such bonds.

Mallikarjun Kharge said,“…Haryana government had reported that management of Manesar plant had imposed a condition of submitting good conduct bond by workers for entering the unit as there was reported widespread indiscipline by workers and acts of sabotage and production of defective vehicles.”

The good conduct bond required the Maruti workers at Manesar plant to declare they would “not resort to go slow,intermittent stoppage of work,stay-in-strike,work-to-rule,sabotage or otherwise indulge in any activity,which would hamper normal production in the manufacturing unit”.

Reaction from Maruti Suzuki India on the minister’s reply was not immediately available.

Maruti Suzuki India had faced three instances of prolonged labour unrest at its Manesar plant this year.

After a 13-day long strike in June at the Manesar unit by the workers,the plant suffered a 33-day long standoff when the management made signing of a ‘good conduct bond’ by workers as a prerequisite to enter the factory premises to work.

After resolving the issue,the workers again struck work for 14 days at the plant in October this year. The workers’ strike ended with the Maruti management finally agreeing to take back 64 suspended and dismissed workers.